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It was a season of lows and highs from an 11-19 start to 95 wins and a playoff spot the Yankees gave their fans a story with many twists and turns in 2005. There was the emergence of Robinson Cano and Chien-Ming Wang and the painful decline of Bernie Williams. In the end, the Yankees couldn’t keep the momentum they had built in September going and fell to the Angels in five games.
The biggest problem with the 2005 Yankees was their pitching. A starting rotation that made $65 million dollars proved to be fragile and ineffective. Kevin Brown, Carl Pavano and Jaret Wright combined to throw 230 innings and win 13 games. In the bullpen, the Yankees spent all year searching for someone who could pitch other than Tom Gordon and Mariano Rivera. Mike Stanton, Steve Karsay and Paul Quantrill were all released in the middle of the season, but the Yankees never found an effective reliever.
Offensively, the 2005 Yankees clicked scoring 873 runs. A Rod had a MVP caliber season and Jason Giambi hit 32 home runs. Derek Jeter did a great job leading off scoring 122 runs. Hideki Matsui and Gary Sheffield also had great seasons. Jorge Posada struggled, but still managed to hit 19 home runs.
The only thing for sure heading into 2006 is that massive changes will be on the way. Bernie Williams and Tino Martinez will probably not be back. Al Leiter and Ruben Sierra may retire. There may be a new pitching coach and GM as well. With a weak free agent market, the Yankees will have a tough time rebuilding on the fly. Will 2006 mark the end of their run of postseason appearances? Time will tell.
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- the yankees need a legit center fielder who can also bat leadoff (Johnny Damon???) allowing Jeter to bat second where he is much much better, and this would allow the rest of the lineup to bat where they belong.
- resign Matsui, consider trading Sheffield...
- a young power hitting catcher to take some weight off of (and eventually replace) the ageing Posada
- a full time DH, a la Edgar Martinez / David Ortiz
- middle relief. Tanyon Sturtze can be great at times but was too inconsistent this year
- starting rotation is a mystery. Pavano and Wright could return next year and be the pitchers they were supposed to be, Randy has at best one or two years left in him, Mussina maybe three... Chacon is awesome, he has earned a starting job IMHO. Aron Small and Scott Proctor deserve long auditions in spring.
and please, KEEP CANO AND WANG!!!!
so i was listening to some sports radio yesterday, which was very amusing...
anyway, do you really think they can trade sheff? and cano and wang are must keeps.
pleeeease... no to Johnny Damon. The yankees can get by with less offensive production from the CF position... I say save some money and focus on getting a great defensive CF with good range and a strong arm.
And oh yeah... keep cano and wang.
from espn:
Only a few players were in the clubhouse to clean out their lockers. Reliever Tanyon Sturtze talked about the team's charter flight home after the final loss, a departure delayed for 3½ hours at the Ontario, Calif., airport by mechanical problems, then interrupted by a stop in Houston to change crews.
"That was the most miserable night ever," he said.
sheffield and pavano for ichiro
sheffield and pavano for ichiro, move matsui to center ..crosby left field.